Cantina Talk: Get Ready to Meet Episode VIII's Version of Ewoks

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Cantina Talk: Get Ready to Meet Episode VIII's Version of Ewoks

LUCASFILM

Even though the Cantina was temporary closed for the holiday break, everyone knows about the two big Star Wars stories that happened during the hiatus: the release (and success) of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the tragic death of Carrie Fisher. Some have already speculated about what Fisher's death means for Princess Leia in future installments in the series, while fans have made moves to get the actress' most memorable role immortalized as a Disney Princess. That's all well and good, but go read Mark Hamill's touching tribute, instead, and then come back for the other stories from a galaxy far, far away from the last few weeks.

Prepare to Meet *Episode VIII'*s Version of the Ewoks

Source: Online rumormongeringProbability of Accuracy: As with all online rumors, who can tell?The Real Deal: Apparently, Rian Johnston's Episode VIII is going to be the episode of the new trilogy that has the goofy aliens in it. To add to the first two trilogies' Ewoks and Gungans, now rumors are circling that Luke Skywalker will have little animal companions on his hideaway Ahch-To. According to the Making Star Wars site, the unnamed aliens look… interesting. The actual description given is, "combine a puffin, a Furby, and Star Wars it up and you have yourself an idea of what this creature is. They’re tiny—maybe 15 inches tall or so." So, uh... OK. (Really, though; did anyone have "Furby" in the "Things Star Wars Will Co-Opt" pool? Anyone?)

Rogue One Didn't Start with a Screenplay

Source: The editors who helped make Rogue One: A Star Wars Story what it was.Probability of Accuracy: It's straight from the people responsible, so entirely true.The Real Deal: Amid interviews teasing very different versions of the movie, the editors of Rogue Onegave an eye-opening interview where they talked about scenes that were added to the movie during the much-discussed reshoots, but also how the entire movie was put together in the first place. For those who thought that it started with a screenplay... nope. "There was no screenplay, there was just a story breakdown at that point, scene by scene [director Gareth Edwards] got me to rip hundreds of movies and basically make Rogue One using other films so that they could work out how much dialogue they actually needed in the film," revealed one of the editors. "I used dialogue from other movies to give you a sense of how long it would take in other films for someone to be interrogated. So for instance, when Jyn gets interrogated at the beginning of the film by the Rebel council, I used the scene where Ripley gets interrogated in Aliens." Turns out, it's true; everything is a remix.

Finally, That Phantom Menace Rematch You've Been Waiting For

Source: The official trailer for the second half of Star Wars: Rebels' third season.Probability of Accuracy: Surely a trailer wouldn't tease something that doesn't actually happen, right? (Well, except for Rogue One trailers.)The Real Deal: The third season of Star Wars: Rebels returns January 7, but as exciting as that was to fans of the series, the trailer for what to expect from the season's second half held a tease that even those who don't watch could get excited about…

For those who didn't quite catch what was happening in the final seconds of that trailer: that was Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul coming face-to-face for the first time since the Clone Wars. (The two, of course, first met in 1999's Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace.) Oh, yeah; that also seems to suggest that Obi-Wan Kenobi is joining the cast of Rebels, at least temporarily, as well, which is hardly unexciting by itself! (For Rogue One fans, yes, you also saw a younger Saw Gerrera in there, as well.)

Han Solo Might Be Getting Katniss Everdeen's Mentor

Source: InsidersProbability of Accuracy: Lean on "Likely, unless the reports give someone cold feet."The Real Deal: As we head towards production on the Han Solo movie, Variety broke the news that Woody Harrelson is in talks to appear in the movie playing a mentor of sorts for the young smuggler. No more details were available (other than noting that talks are apparently in early stages, so it's far from a done deal just yet), but it'll be interesting to see how Harrelson fits into a galaxy far, far away, especially following up on his performance in the Hunger Games movies, where he also played a mentor figure. Not bad for a goofy bartender.

Star Wars Is Now Officially a Holiday Treat

Source: Anonymous sources and online speculation, the greatest team-up of allProbability of Accuracy: File under: "Pretty likely, probably. We think."The Real Deal: Meanwhile, speaking of the Han Solo movie, rumors are starting to circulate that the massive box office for Rogue One might have convinced Disney that Star Wars movies should continue to be released in December, leaving the summer for the other blockbuster movies… which means that the Han Solo movie, currently pencilled in for May 2018 will find itself pushed back to December that year. (December 13 is the date being bandied about by some.) Right now, this is all rumor, but let's be honest… hadn't we all started just thinking of Star Wars as an annual holiday tradition by now anyway?